[Photo: Courtesy of Hartford Hospital]

Almost one in three Americans will suffer from a clinically diagnosable anxiety disorder
at some point in their lives. Depression and bipolar and anxiety disorders exact a significant toll on individuals and society in terms of human suffering, lost productivity and high health care costs.

A new program at the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital – the Depression Initiative – supported by a grant from the Gándara Family Fund at the Hartford Foundation, is expanding scientific knowledge about these conditions. The goal is to enable sufferers to achieve not just improvement, but full, functional recovery.

The Institute admits approximately 4,000 patients a year. Because antidepressants, mood stabilizers and antipsychotic drugs are highly effective in treating mood disorders, accurate diagnoses and early treatment are vital.

“The Depression Initiative will enhance our knowledge of these illnesses, improve treatments and increase access to treatment,” said Dr. Harold I. Schwartz, vice president of behavioral health for Hartford Hospital and psychiatrist-in-chief at the Institute of Living, which is considered one of the world’s premier psychiatric institutions.

“Philanthropy has always been a critical part of the Institute’s funding,” said Dr. Schwartz. An earlier $1 million grant from the Budd Family Fund at the Hartford Foundation allowed the Institute to build on its substantial work in neuroimaging (essentially computerized pictures) to analyze the workings of brain cells and identify abnormal structural or functional regions.
 
Another grant funded the Healthy Aging Program, which examined depression and mental illness among residents at six public housing projects for the elderly in Hartford. A higher prevalence of untreated depression has been documented among elderly minorities whose mental health concerns can be aggravated by social isolation, poverty and unaddressed medical problems.  The project delivered mental health services and health screenings to nearly 800 people, thanks to the $283,700 grant from the Foundation and its Gengras Family Fund and Howard Hunt Garmany Fund.
 
Another Hartford nonprofit agency that deals with mental health issues, Chrysalis Center, Inc., moved into new headquarters, a former milk processing plant, on Homestead Avenue earlier this year thanks, in part, to $1.3 million in grants from the Hartford Foundation, including funding from the Foundation’s Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund, Schiro Fund, Budd Family Fund and Samuel Roskin Trust.

Chrysalis Center provides community support services to about 2,500 people each year, who are struggling with mental illness, as well as substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, release from incarceration, and homelessness.

“We are extremely grateful to the Hartford Foundation for helping to make our dream of having a place to call our own a reality,” said Sharon L. Castelli, executive director.  “Chrysalis provides services that allow individuals and families to reintegrate successfully into the community and transform their lives to meet their personal goals.”